Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Lock (03/06/06)
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TITLE: Supper At The Hungry Heart | Previous Challenge Entry
By Edy T Johnson
03/07/06 -
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“Gale, you’d better order something. We have a long trip ahead of us,” Perdito advised. “Order something filling!”
“And, nutritious,” added Davidson.
The waitress brought glasses of water, took their orders and left.
“Speaking of ‘starving,’” Gale said, “and, I dunno, maybe this is just peculiar to women, I seem to have a gaping hole in my heart that is always empty, and I don’t know how to feed it. Nothing satisfies me.”
“What gets your attention?” Perdito asked. “What have you tried?”
“Well, I thought my dream of a career would do it. But, after all the education and job applications were behind me, I found myself at my goal, thinking ‘Now what?’”
Davidson reached into his pocket for a pen while Gale continued.
“So, I set another goal and then another, like climb the ladder to the top job, make all the money I can...” her voice trailed off as her eyes gazed out the window at the sunset painting the prairie golden-red.
“That doesn’t sound like much fun at all!” Perdito said, “No wonder your heart is hungry. You need to party, man! You know: romance, booze, even drugs do a great job filling empty spaces. At least you can numb yourself to the point you don’t notice or even care...”
Gale interrupted, “...but that isn’t a solution! When morning comes, the ache is worse than ever. I want something that satisfies!”
Davidson smoothed out a paper napkin. “Perhaps I might draw you a picture,” he said. “In college I attended a campus church, and found some convincing explanations for this very dilemma. You aren’t alone, you know.”
He drew a circle. “Okay, here’s somebody.” Inside the circle he drew a smaller circle. “Here’s that center we call our spirit.” Davidson pointed to the space between the outer and inner circles. “And, this is the soul, which contains our mind, will, and emotions. Here is where that hunger for meaning, significance, and appreciation lies.
“Wow!” Gale said, “I’ve never heard anything like that before...”
“Sounds like hogwash to me,” Perdito interrupted.
“Wait,” Davidson continued, drawing a second set of circles like the first. “The question is: how do we satisfy that universal hunger?” He drew arrows pointing from outside into the edge of the first circle. Then he inked in the entire center of the inside circle.
“This is a picture of what you’ve experienced, Gale. The body is the part of us that communicates with the VISIBLE world around us, through our senses. The arrows indicate trying
to satisfy the soul from outside...”
“Well,” interrupted Perdito, “what else is there?”
“Why did you black out the center of the little circle?” Gale asked.
“To answer both your questions, the spirit, our innermost being, is the part of us that connects with the INVISIBLE world. It’s where God’s Holy Spirit communicates with our spirit.”
“So,” said Gale, “if it’s dark, there’s nothing going on in the spirit?”
“Hey, wait a minute,” Perdito said. “God ain’t the only one in the spirit world, you know.”
“That’s true,” Davidson continued. “The adversary does his best to deceive us, from without and within. But God is the only One who FILLS our spirit, which overflows into our soul.” Davidson illustrated what he was saying by drawing arrows out from the center circle in the second set of circles he had drawn.
“The hunger of the soul is satisfied and the individual becomes a giver to the visible world, drawing on the endless overflow from his spirit.” He drew more arrows from the soul-sketch into the space outside the circle.
“Oh, I see,” Gale said. “One of those individuals you’re drawing is a giver, the other with the dark spirit is a taker.”
“I’m going out for a smoke!” Perdito slid out of the booth.
Davidson continued, “I like to call it ‘The Soul Sandwich.’ It’s really a battleground.”
”I’ve got a question,” Gale looked Davidson in the eye. “How do I turn on the light in my spirit?”
“I’m so glad you asked!” he said as he reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a small book with gilt edging on its pages. “This Word is the door that lets God enter your spirit.
And, this Door is never locked!”
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